Liverpool defeated Manchester City in a battle of the Premier League favourites in New York, a late Sadio Mane penalty earning a 2-1 victory.

City took the lead through Leroy Sane’s run and finish, but Mo Salah scored less than a minute after coming on as a sub before Tosin Adarabioyo fouled Dominic Solanke, allowing Mane to steal the win.

Here, Sportsmail look at five things we learned from the International Champions Cup match at the MetLife Stadium…

Premier League favourites Liverpool and Manchester City clashed in New York on Thursday

City youngsters catch the eye

Pep Guardiola has been enthused by the application of a number of his youngsters on this trip already. Lukas Nmecha and Eric Garcia are two who have caught the eye and that was no different here.

Former Barcelona defender Garcia, still only 17, has stood up to far more senior strikers so far, looking composed on the ball and fierce in the tackle.

Claudio Gomes, who enjoyed a low-key 18th birthday party at City’s base, the Mandarin Oriental, on Monday, had a steady debut.

Lukas Nmecha is one of a number of Manchester City youngsters to have impressed on tour

Jones the first half star

Youngsters were always going to be a theme during this tour given the World Cup and Curtis Jones is another to catch the eye.

A leading light in Liverpool’s academy, Jones was the man to go closest for Jurgen Klopp’s side in the first half, flashing one header over and almost winning a penalty under a challenge by Cameron Humphreys. Jones performed one outrageous flick before being replaced by Mo Salah.

Curtis Jones was another to catch the eye and was Liverpool’s best attacker in the first half

Pitch imperfect

The MetLife pitch was a complete disgrace, only laid 39 hours before kick-off thanks to a trio of Taylor Swift gigs in New Jersey over the weekend.

The ground was just over half full, 30,000 shy of its capacity, and you wonder whether the appetite for the ICC remains in America.

Add to that the travel chaos, which saw hundreds failing to arrive until half-time because of overcrowded and slow buses, and it was an unsatisfactory evening.

The MetLife pitch was a complete disgrace, made nearly unplayable thanks to pop concerts

Zinchenko goes from hero to zero

Guardiola went to three at the back, starting with Oleksandr Zinchenko as a sitting midfielder in a five behind Nmecha and Brahim Diaz.

Zinchenko – who is yet to decide whether he’s leaving for pastures new this summer – was having a fine game until his mistake led to Salah’s equaliser after the break on being switched to centre half.

Mo Salah scores Liverpool’s equaliser after being given space by Oleksandr Zinchenko

Sane shows what Germany missed

Leroy Sane wasted no time kicking his new season off, scoring within 12 minutes of being introduced after flying onto Bernardo Silva’s clever through ball.

The winger has pace to burn and is determined to use Joachim Low’s World Cup snub to his advantage. Sane fancies his chances of improving on the 10 Premier League goals he scored last season.